Teenage Sleep: 8 Stepsto Restful Nights

Step 5: Make sure your teen avoids caffeine

No doubt about it, caffeine can cause teenage sleep problems. Caffeine
is found in a lot of places: soda, chocolate, hot cocoa, coffee, tea,
and even some over the counter medications.

Excessive caffeine use during the day can lead to insomnia in
teenagers...can make teenage sleep quality poor...which leads to daytime
sleepiness...which then results in more caffeine the next day.

It's a vicious circle.

Teens need to monitor their caffeine use, and just as with
adults, they need to stop using it early in the day. Probably at least
six hours before they want to go to sleep...certainly no later than 4
p.m.

By the way, nicotine is also a stimulant and can disrupt teenage
sleep cycles. (Sigh...what an unfortunate, stupid habit teen smoking
is...)

Step 6: Help your teen find a bedtime routine

Most teens want to be healthy, happy, and successful. Nobody likes walking around everyday worn out and in a fog.

So reassure your teen that finding and getting into a bedtime
routine that works for them will help them function better in school,
sports, and all their activities of the day.

Just as we adults need to discover how many hours sleep we need
to average every night and the best times to go to bed, teens need to do
the same. Do they need 8 hours? 9 hours? Find out.

Establishing fairly consistent habits of going to bed and getting
up at the same time everyday works wonders for getting a good night's
sleep. Find what works and stick to it, even on the weekends.

One mistake many teens make is they sleep in much later on the
weekends to try and catch up on lost sleep. This differs from their
usual weekday routine of getting up earlier. When Sunday night rolls
around, they then have a hard time getting to sleep at the right time.

So within reason, a teen should find a schedule that works for
them and stick as close as possible to that routine every single day of
the week. Sleeping in on weekends for more than two hours past their
normal "get up" time should be avoided.

Step 7: "I wear my sunglasses at night"

Remember that 1984 song "I wear my sunglasses at night" by Corey
Hart? Turns out, wearing sunglasses at night can help your teen get to
sleep.

Light and dark have a powerful effect on our brains. Darkness
helps with the release of melatonin and lets the brain know it's time
for sleep. Bright light tells us it's time to be awake and active.

A teen needs to be exposed to as little light as possible
starting at about an hour before bedtime. (The same goes for us adults
too, by the way.)

Say your teen goes to bed at 11 p.m. By 10 p.m.:

They should avoid television and its flickering light. There
should not be a television in your teen's room either. It's too tempting
a distraction and a bedroom should be for sleeping.

Computers with their glaring lights should be off.

Reading or journal writing should be done with the lowest light possible. A book light is perfect for this.

The bedroom should be as dark as possible with the help of blackout curtains if necessary to keep outside lights out.

As for the sunglasses?

About an hour before bed, have your teen put on some wrap-around
sunglasses to cut down even more light in preparation for sleep. (But
not if they're out running around town! Only do this when they are
safely at home.)

If the sunglasses are orange tinted, it's still possible to read
with them on. They might even consider putting them on earlier in the
evening when working on the computer to help block some of its light.

Step 8: Step into the light

When dawn rolls in, and it's time to get up, your teen needs to be
exposed to light. They should turn on one light, then after a few
minutes the next one, until the room is nice and bright.

Roll back the curtains or pull up the blinds to let the morning
light in (obviously this won't work in the dark winter months). All this
bright light lets your teen's circadian clock know that it's time to
get going on the day.

I'm not going to get into light box therapy in this article, but
teens who have a super tough time waking up in the morning may need
light therapy. Talk to your doctor about this if that's your teen's
problem.

Concluding remarks about teenage sleep

Trouble falling asleep and sleep deprivation are common in teens. The
above 8 steps are good steps to take to begin helping your teen sleep
better.

Keep in mind though that there could be deeper biological sleep disorder issues with your teen.